Railway rail joint



1. A. HYLE AND G. W. WHITEIVIAN.

RAILWAY RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION FILED ocT. 20, IszI.

1,418,930. PanIeaJune 6,1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

J. A. HYLE AND G. W. WHITENIAN.

RAILWAY RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION FILED ocr. 2o. 192|.

1,418,930. PawnIedJune 6,1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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j STATES PATENT oFFlCE.

RAILWAY RAIL J' OINT.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patnted J line 6, 1922.

Application led October 20, 1921.- Serial No. 509,107.

To all lw/wm t may concern:

Be it known that we, JACOB A..HYLE and GEORGE W. WHrrEMAN, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Philadel hia, in the county ofPhiladelphia and tate of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Railway Rail Joints, of whichthe following is aspeci- `lication.

This invention relates to an improvement in railway rail joints, and hasspecial reference to a novel construction of the rail joint bars orplates, whereby the clamping effect against the track rails at and nearthe meeting ends of the rails is materially and practically improved andadapted to compensate for the wear which usually occurs at and near saidmeeting ends, and this invention is an improvement on the patent grantedto Jacob A. Hyle, under date of August 23, 1921, No. 1,888,184.

The main object of the invention is to provide novel, durable,economical, simple and thoroughly effective means for safely and.

reliably uniting and securing the meeting ends of railroad track railstogether, said means being adapted to materially increase the longevityof the rail joint and the rails.

A further objectv is to provide a safe, strong and reliable railway railjoint composed of few parts, with means for safely and firmly securingthe parts together when properly assembled, saidk joint including meansadapted to compensate for the wear which customarily takes place at andnear the juncture of the meeting ends of the track rails.

Another object of this invention isto so construct our improved railjoint that the meeting ends vof the track rails will possess a maximumof vertical strength, together with a maximum of lateral strength and.rigidity to withstand the excessivestrain to which the rails aresubjected by the travel of the heavy rolling stock thereon.

Further objects of the invention are to so construct each rail joint baror plate that if broken it will be impossible for the broken parts ofsaid bar or plate to work outwardlyv and thus become dangerous duringthe travel of the rolling stock thereover; to so construct each railjoint bar or plate that its outer vertical face will be clamped `by awedge-shaped member throughout its length; that the upper reinforcedportion of each bar or plate will be caused to be iexed against thelower surface of the tread and the upper end ortion ofthe web of therail as the wear ta ves place at and near the juncture of the rails, bythe proper adjustment of the wedge-shaped member fitted therein andsimultaneously cause the lower reinforced portion of vsaid joint bars`to firmly and securely clamp the base of each rail and the lowerportionof the rail web; to construct each bar or plate from a single piece ofmetal formed with an excess of metal at its headand foot portions, andthickened at that Vportion adapted to contact with the rail where thetread merges into the web and Where the web merges into portions adaptedto yield when the wedge member. is forced or drawn inwardly therebycausing the said bars or plates to fit snugly and securely against theweb, tread and base/of each rail.

The foregoing and such other objects as may appear from the ensuingdescription are attained by the construction, arrangement, combinationand location of the parts hereinafter more fully described, illustratedin the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the claimsappendedhereto, it being understood that slight changes in the preciseform, proportions and minor details of the construction may be resortedto without departing from the s irit or sacrificing any of theadvantages o the invention. l

In .the accompanying drawings which form a part of the specification itwill be seen that Figure 1 is a perspective-of the improved rail jointembodying our invention, adapted to be secured to the railway ties.. I

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation, showing the base of the rail resting ona tie plate, and a side elevation of a portion of a securing spike onthe outer side of the rail.

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of a slightly modified form.

Fig. 4 -is a side elevation of the joint bar or plate shown in Figs. 1and 2, disconnected from the joint.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the wedgemember removed from the joint.

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the joint bar or plate shown in Fig. 3.

i F ig. 7 is an end view of the bar or plate `shown in Figure 6. and

Fig. 8 is an end View of the bar or plate shown in Fig. 4.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to designate correspondingparts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

In the embodiment of our invention as illustrated, it will be observedby reference to Fig. l that the track rails land 2 are shown as beinconnected together by the joint bars or p ates 3, each of said bars orplates being preferably rolled from a single piece of steel and formedwith a central elongated opening 4 formed therethrough; an upper headmember 5, said member beine' formed with an excess of metal thickened orenlarged at 6, to furnish the desired strength, and is so shaped as tolit snugly and closely against and clamp the under surface of the railtread and the upper portion of the web of the rail, and the foot orlowermost member 7 of said joint bar or plate is also formed with anexcess of metal thickened or reinforced at 8 and so shaped as to contactwith and clamp the upper surface of the base of the rail and thelowermost portion of the web of the track rail, the web portion 9 ofsaid joint bar or plate being rolled comparatively thinI for the purposehereinafter describe By reference to F ig. 2 it will be seen that thebase of the rail is seated upon the well known tie or base plate 10which is provided with an integral upward extension 11, adapted tocontact with the outer side of the rail base and thus retain the rail inits proper alinement at all times, side plate 10 being provided withsuitable openings therethrough adapted toreceive an'ordinary railwayspike, such as `12, which is driven through the recessed opening 13formed in the outer edge of the joint bar or plate and into a railwaytie (not shown), with thel head of the securing spike overlapping theupper surface of thebar or plate 3 for securing said rail and bar orplate to the railwaiy ties.

t will be perceived that the outer face of each joint bar or plate 3forms a wedgeshaped recess -14- for the rece tion of a wedge-shapedmember 15 whic is litted within said recess overlapping the web portion9 of bar or plate 3, and extending throughout the length of the saidbar. Each wedge-shaped member is provided with four central openings forthe reception of the securing bolts 16, each bolt being passed* throughthe track rail, and each bolt nearest the end of the joint is through anopening formed through t e web of the joint bars near each end thereof,while the intermediate bolts' pass through the elongated openings 4 insaid joint bars, all of the se` curing bolts passing lthrough the jointbars i and wedge-members, and securely Fitted t0 j the threaded end ofeach bolt is a securing nut 17 adapted to contact with the outer face ofthe wed re members, said nuts being fitted so as to a ternate onopposite sides of the joint.

. It will be readil joint wears at an near the meeting ends of therailsby drawing the nuts inwardly on the two bolts nearest said meetingends the wedge-members are gradually forced inward into the recess 14thus forcing the joint barlto yield in its thinnest web portion andcausin said bars to be moved in closer contact wit the web of the railsand more directly between the top and bottom thereof and simultaneouslycausing the heavy head evident that when the and Vfoot `members of thejoint bars to be I flexedinto rigid contact withthe lower surface of therail treads and the upper surface of the rail bases, respectively. Thusmore direct strength is `attained than when the joint bars are away fromthe rails, and as expansion and contraction cause wear the jouit barsmay be drawn closer to the rails from time to time as the wear permitsat and near their meeting ends, while the clamping eli-'ect of the barsis `not so intense at and near the ends thereof, where the clamping ofthe ordinary rail joint becomes most effective after wear. Hence. thewave motion of the track rails usually produced by the movement of therolling stock thereon may ass through the joint to the rail ends, therey eliminating the tendency of the breakage of the rail in a plane withone or more of the boltholes formed near the meeting ends of the rails,thus saving annually a considerable amount to the railway system. Itwill be seen that' the heavy wedge-members adjustably fitted within therecess 14 of each joint `bar 3 constitute suiiicient material to forman' unusually strong, durable and efficient joint, which may be easilyand readily adjusted and kept tight at the required and desiredV pointsand is much easier to adjust and tighten than the ordinary rail owing tothe excessive shaking and jarring caused by the paing of the rollingstock, both the upper and lower portions of the joint bar 4or plate areliable to work outaol wardly .thus causing a dangerous obstruction,hence to prevent `such dangers. We

thicken, enlarge orreinforce each joint plate together with the clampingeffect of theV wedgemembers with the outer' face lo'fV the at the points6 and `8, thus forming a dovetion, thereby spreading, fiexin web portionof the joint bars renders it impossible for the broken portions of saidbars to work outwardly.

By our improved construction of rail joint the battering of the ends ofthe rails is entirely avoided by forcing the wedge-members inwardly atand near their central poror bowing upwardly such portions of the jointbars as are disposed at and near the meeting ends of the rails intoclose and rigid contact with the worn portions of the rails, thuslessening the clamping effect at and near the outer ends of the jointand permitting the wave motion to the rail to continue to the bowedportion of the joint bars, which is substantially at the end of thetrack rail, thereby preventing the usual tendency of the breakage of therail at one or the other of the bolt holes near its ends. l j

It willalso be evident that the forcing of the wedge-members inwardly atand near their central portions will insure tight nuts at the endportions of the joint, and that this construction of joint may be usedwith or withoutlthe use of railway joint crossties.

It will be understood that the elongated opening 4 formed in the centralportion of each joint bar or plate 3, maybe contracted or restricted toany suitable or desirable degree, it being evident that by the formationof said elongated opening through the central portion of each joint baror plate the head and foot portions thereof may be more readily forcedor expanded upwardly and downwardly, and caused to clamp tightly againstthe head and base portions of the rails, respectively, when thecentralsecuring bolts are forced inwardly by tightening the securingnuts.

Having thus described our invention what we claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent is :-'f

1. A rail joint of the character described, comprising track rails, asplice bar having an excess of metal at its lower and upper portions andathickened portion at the inner curved end of said lower andupperportions with a recess formed within 4its outer face, and a thinweb member, and means vfitted. within said recessv for causing saidlower and upper ortions to be flexed against the rail tread an a portionof the railv web 2. A rail joint of the character described, comprisingtrack rails, a splice bar having outwardly extending head `and footportions formed of an excess of metal in dovetail form land with arecess formed within its outer facel and a thin web member, and meansfitted within said recess for causing said head portionl to be bowedupwardly at and near its central portion into tight contact with theundersurface of the rail tread.

3. A rail joint of the character described, comprising track rails, asplice bar formed with an excess of metal at its upper and lowerportions, each of said portions forming an outwardly extended dovetailbetween the track rail and a wedge-member, and a recess formed withinthe outer face of said splice bar, a thin yielding web member,l and awedge-member adapted to cause said uptightly into contact with the treadand base portions of the rails.

5. A rail joint of the character described, comprising track rails, asplice bar having outwardly extended head and foot portions formed of anexcess of metal with a thickened portion at the point of contact withthe `tread and web of the rails, with a recess formed within its outerface and a thin web portion connecting said head and foot portions, andmeans fitted within said recess for causing said head portion to bebowed tightly into contact with the lower surface 'of the rail treads atall times.

6. A rail joint of the character described, comprising track rails, asplice bar having outwardly extended head and footportions, each of saidportions being thickened at its inner side, each splice bar being formedwith a recessed outer face, a thin yielding. web connecting said headand foot members with an elongated opening formed through the centralportion of said web, and means vfitted within said recess for fiexingsald head and foot portions tightly into Contact with the tread, baseand web ofthe rails.

7. A rail joint of the character described, comprising track rails, asplice bar formed with outwardly extending head and foot portions havingan lexcess of metal and a thickened portion at the inner side of eachhead and foot portion with a recess formed lwithin its outer face, athin yielding web connecting said head and foot portions and anelongated opening formed through the central portion of said web, andmeans fittedV within said recess for fiexing said head'portion upwardlyat and near the center of said splice bar into tight contact with thelower surface of the tread of the rails.

JACOB A. HYLE. GEORGE WHITEMAN.

